Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Lady Cynthia was a steel-hulled passenger ship converted from a minesweeper, (formerly HMS Barnstaple), which served in the coastal waters of British Columbia from 1925 to 1957. Lady Cynthia was a sistership to Lady Cecilia, also a converted minesweeper. The ship was generally referred to as the Cynthia while in service.
My father worked in Bralorne from 1953 to 1954. Before he had a car his trips to Vancouver went as follows - bus from Bralorne to Seton Portage, train from there to Squamish and then a ship to Vancouver. The trip took him more than 12 hours.
When the PGE was planned the line was supposed to run from North Vancouver to Squamish but the construction of the line bankrupt the company and the government took over. For 40 years the BC government did very little with the PGE. WAC Bennett finally built the line between Squamish and North Van on Aguust 1 1956. A couple years later the Squamish highway was built.
With the construction of the railway and highway one of the major destinations of the Union Steamship company was gone.
Wikipedia link about the Lady Cynthia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Cynthia
Original source footage
youtu.be/l0FpYSC4rWE
Lady Cynthia was a steel-hulled passenger ship converted from a minesweeper, (formerly HMS Barnstaple), which served in the coastal waters of British Columbia from 1925 to 1957. Lady Cynthia was a sistership to Lady Cecilia, also a converted minesweeper. The ship was generally referred to as the Cynthia while in service.
My father worked in Bralorne from 1953 to 1954. Before he had a car his trips to Vancouver went as follows - bus from Bralorne to Seton Portage, train from there to Squamish and then a ship to Vancouver. The trip took him more than 12 hours.
When the PGE was planned the line was supposed to run from North Vancouver to Squamish but the construction of the line bankrupt the company and the government took over. For 40 years the BC government did very little with the PGE. WAC Bennett finally built the line between Squamish and North Van on Aguust 1 1956. A couple years later the Squamish highway was built.
With the construction of the railway and highway one of the major destinations of the Union Steamship company was gone.
Wikipedia link about the Lady Cynthia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Cynthia
Original source footage
youtu.be/l0FpYSC4rWE
